What is the true Olympic spirit?
The Games of the I Olympiad opened in Panathenaic Stadium on April 6, 1896. Pierre de Coubertin, French educator and historian, was credited with the revival of the Olympic Games. The multi-purpose stadium, reconstructed from the remains of an ancient Greek stadium, was filled with almost 80,000 spectators. There was reason behind the high turnout. (It was Easter Monday, also the anniversary of Greek independence.) After a speech by Prince Constantine, the president of the organizing committee, King George I, his father, uttered these famous words:
"I declare the opening of the first international Olympic Games in Athens. Long live the Nation. Long live the Greek people."
Prior to the opening ceremony, the kingdoms of Europe were engaged in a bloody conflict with her colonies in Africa. Utah became the 45th state of the United States of America. Wilhelm Röntgen discovered the x-rays. It seemed like a premise of a Dickens novel, but Coubertin didn't think of peace. The Parisian came from an aristocratic family, royalists who esteemed classical Greece. In fact, the young Coubertin favored fitness for one particular reason. War. It was hard to tell if the aristocrat sensed the Great War or jingoism affected him, but his motives were far from the vision of the ancient Olympic Games.
Let's play for a truce
The ancient Olympic Games was staged as a truce among warring city states. Athletes were ensured that they won't be killed, while the winner would bring glory to his city state. This was the game to determine the best, a sentiment that Coubertin didn't share at all.
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize," wrote Paul in one of his (Biblical) writings. The apostle spent 18 months in Corinth, so it would be likely that he witnessed this quadrennial event. As the illustrations in handicraft would attest, the ancient Greeks strove for the best. Coubertin would agreed with it, but he also believed in camaraderie and good sportsmanship.
If the Frenchman were alive, he might have sneered at how the Olympiad turned out. Politics would dictate the selection of the host city, but austerity changed the mindset of the members of the International Olympic Committee (OIC). And the Olympic rings became equivalent to corporate logos. Media would love to depict certain athletes as larger than life especially those who would break records. (In the case of American athletes, such achievement would land them a contract with Wheaties.) But all is not lost. Athletes from developing nations believed that appearance alone was considered an honor to their family and countrymen. And some athletes set aside their personal ambition. (Canadian speedskater Gilmore Junio would come to mind.) Between the costly ads and adulation of some athletes, the ideals of the ancient Greeks and Coubertin's beliefs would be seen.
Is the Olympics still relevant in the third millennium? It still is. For those who aren't heavily favored to win a medal, their courage and determination wouldn't go unnoticed. (Derek Redmond would be a fine example.) As for those who will square off for the gold, let the fans make up their mind.
